"The Jade Pendant!"
Gu Fan remembered suddenly.
In the original plot, after Lin Shu died from her chronic illness, the servants had callously thrown her meagre belongings into the trash heap behind the kitchens.
And as 'luck' would have it, Gu Chen, wandering the grounds in a rare trance of melancholy (farming aura points among the female disciples), found the trash, and among them the jade pendant covered in the mud.
Instead of ignoring it like anyone else would do, he picked it up and cleaned it, only to discover that it was a sealed map, and used it to find the Blue Ghost Fire.
That fire was the absolute cornerstone of Gu Chen's rise to power in the early arcs. It was the ultimate weapon for a poison cultivator.
Blue Ghost Fire was a ruthless offensive weapon, a strong defensive wall, and a very potent means to concoct high quality poisons as well as potions.
"I can't let him have it," Gu Fan growled, "I am already in the forest, but if I go deeper without that map, I will be wandering blind for months. I have to go back."
He looked back toward the towering clan walls, barely visible through the dense trees.
"I can never let Gu Chen have this," he whispered, "At least not this."
~~~~~
In the Servant courtyard.
After the assassination of Chen Long, the Gu Clan was in a state of high alert.
Patrols were doubled around the main gates and guest quarters.
Maids and servants were not allowed from leaving the Gu Clan.
Gu Clan shops had been closed for the day.
Overall the Gu Clan was in a lock down and the investigation into Chen Long's gruesome "assassination" was turning the estate upside down.
But the Servant Quarters were ignored. Who cared about the rats when the tigers were restless?
So when Gu Fan reached the dilapidated shack at the end of the row where the maids lived, he heard a few voices inside.
"Hurry up, grab the copper pot. It's worth a few coins."
"What about the old hag? She's still breathing."
"Who cares? She will be dead soon. Get that blanket as well, it's good wool."
Gu Fan's eyes narrowed. His mother wasn't even dead yet and the vultures were already there to pick up the bones.
He stepped up to the door and pushed it open.
The shack was dimly lit, it smelled of moss and rotten food as if it was some sort of a garbage dump for ages.
On a cot in the corner lay a withered, skinny woman, her breath rattling in her chest.
And near the cupboards in the room, two male servants were rummaging through a wooden chest.
One of them, a man named Gu San, was holding a faded quilt.
Gu San looked up, annoyed, "Get out! We claimed this spo..."
But when he saw Gu Fan standing there, he froze in his tracks.
The light from the door illuminated Gu Fan's face.
Seeing the newly risen Seventh Young Master standing there, Gu San dropped the quilt, and his face went as white as a sheet.
Every servant in the estate had heard the explosive gossip from the main courtyard that morning. The ruthless Matriarch had publicly slapped the Golden Boy, Gu Chen, just to protect him.
And to make it worse, they were not just robbing anyone. They were robbing the ill mother of Gu Fan.
"Y-Young Master Fan?!" Gu San stammered, backing into the wall, his knees knocking together, "We... we thought since you were with the Matriarch now... you wouldn't care about this old trash..."
Gu Fan stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The latch clicked with a sound of absolute finality.
"Trash?" Gu Fan asked, his voice low and smooth.
He walked toward them without any hurry as his eyes turned towards the the other servant, a boy named Gu Si, who instantly wet his pants.
"Mercy, Young Master! Mercy!" Gu Si shrieked as he made a run for the only window in the room, wanting to dive out of it to escape.
But just as the exit was in sight for Gu Si, Gu Fan blurred from where he was standing and the next moment he appeared behind Gu Si as he grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him against the wall.
CRUNCH!
Li Si slid down, his skull caved in as he dropped dead on the floor, bleeding from the head.
Gu Fan then turned his gaze towards Gu San.
"Please! Don't kill me! I was just..."
Gu Fan grabbed Gu San by the throat, lifting the grown man off the ground with one hand effortlessly.
"Shhh," Gu Fan whispered, his grip tightening around his throat like a snake, "You are too loud. You will disturb my mother."
And then he squeezed his neck without dilly-dallying.
CRACK!
And just like that, Gu Fan killed the two men without batting an eyelash.
Gu Fan dropped the body, without feeling a shred of guilt. These were the exact men who had trampled and beaten the original owner of this body for years.
"Trash he said?!" Gu Fan dusted off his hands and turned to the cot.
All this commotion had woken up Lin Shu. Her eyes, clouded with cataracts and approaching death, were fixed on him.
"Fan'er?! Is that you?" She wheezed, as her frail hand trembling as she reached out.
Gu Fan walked to her and knelt beside the bed. He felt a sudden, sharp pang of residual emotion from the original body welling up; sadness, regret, a desperate yearning for a mother's love. He took a deep breath, pushing the emotions down with cold rationality.
"Yes, mother! I sm here," he said softly.
"You... you look strong..." she whispered, a faint, proud smile touched her cracked lips, as he felt his grip, "Good... good... Get stronger and stronger..."
Her weak, wrinkled fingers fumbled weakly at her neck, pulling at a greasy string. A small, cracked piece of green jade emerged from her robes.
It looked completely worthless, like a piece of cheap jewellery bought at a roadside stall.
"Your father..." She gasped, pressing it into his hand with the last of her strength, "Don't hate him."
"He left this for me... I cannot give you anything else... Keep this," She told Gu Fan.
Gu Fan took the jade. It was warm from her skin.
[Item Detected: Fragment of the Blue Ghost Fire Map.]
'System! Can't I do anything for her?' Gu Fan asked.
[Sorry, master! The last of her vitality has left her body. She can't be saved now.]
Gu Fan read the words in front of him, and his heart tightened. He looked at the wrinkled face of the stranger woman in front of her who was his mother as well and his grip tightened around the stone in his palms.
Even in death, this woman worried about him more.
"I have it. You can rest now," Gu Fan said, tears forming in his eyes.
Lin Shu looked at him one last time. She seemed to sense that the confident, powerful boy in front of her wasn't entirely the timid son she had raised.
"I will... I will... " Lin Shu took a deep breath as her nails dug into Gu Fan's hands, "I... Wi..."
And just like that, her chest stopped moving and the dim light in her eyes vanished. His mother's soul had left the mortal shell. Where she would go, Gu Fan did not know. But he just hoped that wherever and whenever she reincarnates, she won't have to live a life on the mercy of anyone.
Gu Fan stood up. He looked down at the woman who had given birth to this body.
"Thank you for the map," he said quietly. "I will burn the clan that killed you. Consider it a funeral offering."
He leaned down and carefully scooped her frail, lifeless body into his arms.
[System Inquiry: Target is deceased. Planting a parasite in her body yields zero strategic or cultivation value. What is the Host planning?]
"I am going to give her the funeral she deserves," Gu Fan replied softly.